View source for John Mark

{{short description|Biblical saint}}
{{About|a figure in the Bible}}
{{Infobox saint
|name=John Mark
|death_date=First century AD
|venerated_in=[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]<br>[[Roman Catholic Church]]<br>[[Eastern Catholic Churches]]
|feast_day=September 27<ref name="Butler">{{cite book|title=Butler's Lives of the Saints|year=1956|editor-last=Butler|editor-first=Alban|editor2-last=Attwater|editor2-first=Donald|editor3-last=Thurston|editor3-first=Herbert|volume=2|page=162}}</ref>
|titles=[[Apostle of the Seventy]], Bishop of [[Byblos]]<ref name="Butler" />
|image=Frans Hals 085.jpg
|caption=''St. Mark'' by [[Frans Hals]], {{circa|1625}}
|Mother = }}

'''John Mark''' ({{Langx|el|Ἰωάννης Μᾶρκος|Iōannēs Markos}}) is named in the [[Acts of the Apostles]] as an assistant accompanying [[Paul the Apostle|Paul]] and [[Barnabas]] on their missionary journeys. Traditionally he is regarded as identical with [[Mark the Evangelist]], the traditional writer of the [[Gospel of Mark]].

==Biblical account==

[[File:St. Mark Syriac inscription.jpeg|thumb|right|6th-century Syriac inscription at the [[Monastery of Saint Mark]] in the [[Old City of Jerusalem]], stating: "This is the house of Mary, mother of John Mark."]]
[[File:Lion of St Mark outside Bishop's Palace -- Galveston, Texas.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Lion of St Mark outside Bishop's Palace – [[Galveston]], Texas]]

Several times the Acts of the Apostles mentions a certain "John, who was also called Mark" or simply "John":

{{blockquote|And when {{bracket|Peter}} had considered ''the thing'', he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying.{{sup|[[Acts 12:12]]}}

And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled ''their'' ministry, and took with them John, whose surname was Mark.{{sup|[[Acts 12:25]]}}

And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had John to ''their'' minister.<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|13:5|!}}</ref>

Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem.<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|13:13|!}}</ref>

And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark.

But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work.

And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus;

And Paul chose Silas, and departed, being recommended by the brethren unto the Grace of God.<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|15:37–40|!}}</ref>}}

From these passages it may be gathered that John's mother [[New Testament people named Mary#Mary, mother of John Mark|Mary]] had a large house in [[Jerusalem]] to which Peter fled after escaping prison; that John assisted Paul and Barnabas on their [[Paul the Apostle#First missionary journey|first missionary journey]] to [[Cyprus]] and as far as [[Perga]] in [[Pamphylia]], but then returned to Jerusalem; and that later controversy over receiving John Mark back led to Paul and Barnabas parting ways, with Barnabas taking Mark back to Cyprus and both thereafter disappearing from the narrative of Acts. The reasons for John Mark's departure to Jerusalem and the subsequent disagreement between Paul and Barnabas have been subject to much speculation. [[Matthew Henry]], for example, suggested that John Mark had departed "without [Barnabas and Paul's] knowledge, or without their consent".<ref>Matthew Henry's Commentary, Acts 15 http://biblehub.com/commentaries/mhc/acts/15.htm accessed 16 September 2015</ref> However, there is simply too little data to regard any explanation with confidence.<ref>{{cite book|last=Black|first=C. Clifton|title=Mark: Images of an Apostolic Interpreter|year=1994|pages=26–44|publisher=Fortress Press |isbn=0872499731|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aWYUcBPqRm0C&pg=PA26}}</ref>

Some scholars have argued that John Mark's negative portrayal in Acts is a polemic against the presumptive author of the Gospel of Mark, Luke's primary source for his own Gospel.  [[Adela Yarbro Collins|Adela Collins]] suggests, "Since the author of Acts also wrote the Gospel according to Luke, it could be that this critical portrait was intended to undercut the authority of the second Gospel."<ref>Collins, Adela. ''Mark: A Commentary''. Fortress, 2007, p. 5.</ref> Michael Kok notes that "Mark's Gospel was a bit of an embarrassment to the refined literary and theological tastes of an educated Christian like Luke."<ref>Kok, Michael. ''The Flawed Evangelist (John) Mark: A Neglected Clue to the Reception of Mark's Gospel in Luke-Acts?''. Neotestamentica, 46(2), pp. 257.</ref>

==Identification==

It was common for Jews of the period to bear both a Semitic name such as ''John'' (Hebrew: [[Johanan (name)|''Yochanan'']]) and a Greco-Roman name such as ''Mark'' (Latin: [[Marcus (praenomen)|Marcus]]).<ref>{{cite book | title=Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony | last=Bauckham | first=Richard | author-link=Richard Bauckham | year=2006 | page=83 | isbn=0802831621 }}</ref> But since ''John'' was one of the most common names among Judean Jews,{{sfnp|Bauckham|2006|p=416}} and ''Mark'' was the most common in the Roman world,<ref>{{cite book|last=Boring|first=M. Eugene|title=Mark: A Commentary|year=2006|series=New Testament Library|isbn=0664221076|page=11}}</ref> caution is warranted in identifying John Mark with any other John or Mark.

Ancient sources, in fact, consistently distinguish John Mark from the other Marks of the New Testament and style him Bishop of [[Byblos]].<ref name="Butler" /><ref>{{cite journal|last=Lee|first=G. M.|title=Eusebius on St. Mark and the Beginnings of Christianity in Egypt|journal=Studia Patristica|year=1975|volume=12|pages=422–431}}</ref><ref name="Bruns-1963">{{cite journal|last=Bruns|first=J. Edgar|title=John Mark: A Riddle within the Johannine Enigma|journal=Scripture|year=1963|volume=15|pages=88–92|url=http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/scripture/15-31_088.pdf}}</ref><ref name="Hippolytus">Pseudo-Hippolytus, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf05.iii.v.iii.html ''On the Seventy Apostles''], for example, disguishes "Mark the Evangelist, Bishop of Alexandria" from "Mark cousin of Barnabas, Bishop of Apollonia" and from "Mark, who is also John, Bishop of Bibloupolis".</ref> Neither was John Mark identified in antiquity with any other John, apart from rare and explicit speculation.<ref name="Bruns-1963" /><ref>[[Dionysius of Alexandria]], apud Eusebius, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.xii.xxvi.html ''Hist. Eccl.'' 7.25].15, speculates in passing on what other Johns there were besides [[John the Evangelist]] who might have written [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]]. [[John Chrysostom]], [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf111.vi.xxvi.html ''In Acta Ap., Hom. xxvi''], seems to suggest that John Mark was the John who accompanied Peter in Acts.</ref><ref name="Bruns-1965">{{cite journal|last=Bruns|first=J. Edgar|title=The Confusion Between John and John Mark in Antiquity|journal=Scripture|year=1965|volume=17|pages=23–26|url=http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/scripture/37_023.pdf}}</ref>

Medieval sources, on the other hand, increasingly regarded all New Testament references to ''Mark'' as [[Mark the Evangelist]], and many modern scholars have agreed in seeing a single Mark.{{sfnp|Black|1994|pp=15–16}} The very fact that various writings could refer simply to ''Mark'' without further qualification has been seen as pointing to a single Mark.{{sfnp|Bauckham|2006|p=206}}

First, there is [[Mark the cousin of Barnabas]], mentioned by Paul as a "fellow worker" in the closings of three Pauline epistles.<ref>{{bibleverse|Philemon|24|KJV}}; [[Colossians 4:10]]; [[2 Timothy 4:11]].</ref> In antiquity he was regarded as a distinct Mark, Bishop of Apollonia.<ref name="Hippolytus" /> If, on the other hand, these two Marks are to be identified, the fact that these epistles were written after the departure of John Mark with Barnabas in Acts must suppose some later reconciliation. But a majority of scholars, noting the close association of both Marks with Paul and Barnabas, indeed regard them as likely the same person. Biblical scholars [[Samuel Rolles Driver]] and [[Charles Augustus Briggs]] identified Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, with John Mark,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Kiw9AAAAIAAJ&dq=Mark+the+cousin+of+Barnabas&pg=PA81 Driver, Samuel Rolles. "Mark and Silvanus", ''The International Critical Commentary on the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments'', C. Scribner's Sons, 1905, p. 80]{{PD-notice}}</ref> as do John R. Donahue and [[Daniel J. Harrington]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=xZAIsUZOwSQC&dq=Mark+the+cousin+of+Barnabas&pg=PA39 Donahue, John R. and Harrington, Daniel J., ''The Gospel of Mark'', Liturgical Press, 2002, p.39]{{ISBN|9780814658048}}</ref>

Mark the Evangelist, however, is known only from the patristic tradition, which associates him only with [[Saint Peter|Peter]] and makes no mention of Paul.{{sfnp|Black|1994|pp=185–186}} [[Jerome]] alone suggests that the Mark of whom Paul speaks may be the Evangelist.<ref>Jerome, ''Comm. in Philem.'' 24.</ref>{{sfnp|Black|1994|p=165}} But modern scholars have noted that as Peter fled to the house of John Mark's mother, the two men may have had a longstanding association.{{sfnp|Black|1994|p=28}}

A minority of modern scholars have argued, on the other hand, for identifying [[John the Evangelist]] or [[John the Elder]] with John Mark.<ref>{{cite book | title=John, the Son of Zebedee: The Life of a Legend | year=1994 | page=87 | isbn=0872499626 | last=Culpepper | first=R. Alan }}</ref>

==Later sources==

The [[Acts of Barnabas]], apparently an apocryphal work of the 5th century,<ref>{{cite book|last=Czachesz|first=István|title=Commission Narratives: A Comparative Study of the Canonical and Apocryphal Acts|year=2007|pages=184–207|isbn=978-9042918450|series=Studies on Early Christian Apocrypha|volume=8|url=http://dissertations.ub.rug.nl/FILES/faculties/theology/2002/i.czachesz/c8.pdf|access-date=2014-04-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703114435/http://dissertations.ub.rug.nl/FILES/faculties/theology/2002/i.czachesz/c8.pdf|archive-date=2013-07-03|url-status=dead}}</ref> purports to be written by John Mark and to detail the missionary journey and martyrdom of Barnabas in Cyprus, thus picking up where the account of Acts leaves off.<ref>[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf08.vii.xxvii.html ''Acts of Barnabas''].</ref>

The ''Encomium of the Apostle St. Barnabas'', written by [[Alexander of Cyprus|Alexander the Monk]] in the 6th century, also gives an extensive account of the activity of Barnabas and John Mark in Cyprus. After the death of Barnabas, John Mark leaves for Ephesus, and the account then continues by identifying him with [[Mark the Evangelist]].<ref name="Bruns-1963" />

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{New Testament people}}
{{Acts of the Apostles}}
{{Gospel of Mark}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:John Mark}}
[[Category:People in Acts of the Apostles]]
[[Category:Gospel of Mark]]
[[Category:Mark the Evangelist]]